Fanfic:Athwyn's Three Arches
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She had come for Athwyn two hours after low saying hardly anything to her. Silently Athwyn followed the Aes Sedai down unfamiliar hallways and several flights of stairs. Finally they went down a set of stairs and she came face to stone with the Three Arches. The cool calm voice came from the Aes Sedai that led her "Be steadfast...The way back comes but once." Athwyn nodded and looked around her. Each of the seven Ajahs had sent a representative to see her pass through them. It wasn't that she stood naked before them and the Amyrlin seat who represented all and yet non of the Ajahs that made her shiver with fear and anticipation; it was the Arches themselves that made her very soul quake. Drawing a deep breath she took one step and then another until she disappeared through the first Arch.
Athwyn Skyhawk steps into the first arch...
The bright light stung against her eyes as she blinked them open. Familiar tapestries depicting battles from Andor's rich history hung on the walls of her room filling it with a sense of warmth. Slowly Athwyn pulled the covers back further; the thick goose down stuffed comforter threatened to engulf her if she didn't wake. "Athwyn...Come on...Get up!" Her brother's voice flooded through the door like sunlight through a fog. "Andrew?" How could it be Andrew? He had passed away during a training exercise in the tilt yard three years past. She threw on her day gown and flung the door open. She caught small glimpses of a blond head bobbing its way down the stairs. "Come on Athwyn. You're holding up breakfast!" Athwyn laughed and followed him down the long staircase and skid around the corner of the hall. It had all been a very bad, but very real, dream. She heard Andrew call her again in that childish voice filled with youthful impatience. "Athwyn come on...Margarette made hotcakes!" A voice echoed in her head, sounding like a voice from a dream. "The way back will come but once." Athwyn turned to the hallway to the left of the stairs where the dinning room was then to her right, making sure her parents were not coming behind her. They would surely have scolded her for running. It seemed to appear from out of the air itself, an arched doorway that she had never seen before. Athwyn's stomach lurched then dropped; this wasn't real. Andrew had indeed died. "Athwyn, hurry I don't want cold cakes!" his words pierced her heart as she took a first step towards the arch. She stopped a moment, she could stay here...stay with Andrew alive here...She closed her eyes as a tear fell down her cheek. No, this wasn't real. She took another step then another, running towards the Arch as Andrew's screams fell away behind her.
The Three Arches reappeared around her as water cold as the river itself in winter poured over her form. Curse these Arches! This test was madness, bordering on insane. She wanted to fall to her knees, she wanted to let the grief consume her. But she stood still and tall, refusing to let her past stop her.
Athwyn Skyhawk steps into the second arch...
Athwyn woke with a start, she had fallen asleep beside the pond in the gardens of the Grey Tower. Her head pounded as if there was a set of drummers in it. She raised up on her elbow and looked around her, grass stuck out of her hair. Athwyn rose up on wobbly legs and shielded her blue eyes from the sun's evil glare. She tried to remember what she had done the night before....There was dancing and music and champagne...not massive amounts of it but enough to hurt her head in the morning. Carefully and slowly she made her way towards her room. The door of her room opened with a loud creeeeeak. Maybe it was just the drummers in her head making everything sound much louder than it was. A note was placed on her desk. She picked it up and groaned as she read it. "Novice Athwyn Skyhawk you are hereby ordered to the Mistress of Novices office. Please appear upon receiving this letter. Within the Light, Aliana Sedai Mistress of Novices" Athwyn sunk to her bed and put her head in her hands. Athwyn washed her face and brushed out her hair, attempting to get rid of the grass and snaggles. She sighed and looked into the mirror in her room before heading towards the Mistress of Novice's Office.
Fellow novices whispered and giggled as she passed them in the hallways. Some just turned away and ignored her. Athwyn preferred the ones who ignored her presence. Athwyn knocked on the door to the Mistress of Novice's Office and waited. She waited and waited till a brown haired girl opened the door and ushered her in. Once in Athwyn could see the Mistress of Novices AND the Master of Soldiers in the room, they were already speaking with another person who sat in a high back chair. She swallowed the lump that appeared in her throat and looked around then dipped a very low curtsey. Aliana Sedai looked over to her. "Novice Athwyn Skyhawk...it has come to my attention that you have been skipping your classes and have recently taken to leaving the Tower to fraternize with one of the young men training to become an Asha'man..." Aliana Sedai spoke slowly and deliberately, Athwyn knew the way she spoke from growing up under Aliana Sedai's tutorage and this unnerved her. She lowered her eyes and head, ashamed of being caught doing such disrespectful things. Aliana Sedai continued..."The Master of Soldiers is currently looking for the young man and I can assure you his punishment will be severe. However, it is my decision that you have not taken your position and training here seriously so I have taken the initiative to send for your father to escort you home to Andor."
The figure in the tall chair rose and she looked up to see her father, his face red with anger and embarrassment. "I see I was right and have already been in contact with the young Lord that we arranged for you to marry before you left to let him know that the marriage will take place a fortnight after we return." Athwyn looked from Aliana Sedai to Jerid Asha'man to her father. "Father you can't..." He cut her words off "I can and I have. You are to leave here and marry the man we chose...that was the deal." Uneasy silence fell over the room as tears began to fall down her cheeks. A knock broke the silence and in walked the young man she had risked everything for...the man she had fallen in love with. Aliana Sedai looked to the young man "The Master of Soldiers will hand out your punishment to you...but I wanted to let the two of you see each other once more before she is sent away from here, so that you can know what your inability to follow simple rules gained you." Jerid Asha'man looked to Athwyn "Have you anything to say in his deffense?"
The sound came like a breeze to her, "Be steadfast, the way back will come back but once." She looked around then back to the young man. "I do have something to say." Aliana began to speak again, "She will have her turn, but first let them say goodbye." Athwyn looked to him then to the others then saw it...An archway, barely there, but she knew what she had to do, she knew that this was not real and she had a chance to be rid of this path. Quickly Athwyn flung herself through the Archway and landed with a thud on the other side, once more in the room with the Three Arches and having the cold water poured over her body.
Athwyn Skyhawk steps into the final arch...
Athwyn took a deep breath, glaring at the stone in front of her...it was a simple enough stone, grey and only the size of a silver coin. Its smooth surface reminded her of the river rocks that she used to play with when she was younger. "You know...if you keep staring at it, its still not going to change..." She laughed and looked up, Janos Asha'man had walked through the door and caught her trying to work on the angreal again. She picked up a small grouping of cotton swabs she had been using to dab at her ink blotches. "I just don't know why it wont work...the theory is correct, its just the practicality that's not working...Perhaps it's the type of stone...Perhaps..." He moved behind her and rubbed at her shoulders. "Perhaps we've been working on this too long and need a break. Come on..." she shot him a look of "Do I have to?" as he pulled her from her chair and away from her notes. "When was the last time we went into town to the Inn to relax?" She smiled and allowed him to lead her out of the room. It had been nearly 5 years since they were both raised to be fully raised members of the Indigo Ajah, and nearly 3 since they were married and began working on this particular project. "I know but we're so close, I know it...I can feel it." It was Janos's turn to laugh this time. "You're feeling how close we are to finishing this...you're feeling over exhausted...Come on, you've been turned into a hermit with this project. You're the Aes Sedai who doesn't exist..." She swatted at him playfully. "Alright...we'll have dinner out in the town. Let me change at least, Light only knows how long I've been in these clothes."
Four hours later they were walking out of the Band of Brothers from having food and a few quick reels. Janos had even managed to get the band to play the same slow song he had paid them to play all those years ago when they had snuck out here as a Novice and a Dedicated. Athwyn smiled and lay her head on his shoulder as they walked, she was happy and her family had even accepted him. They walked slowly under the moonlight back up towards the Grey Tower. This was a rarity as Aes Sedai and Asha'man hardly ever went into the town, but Athwyn and Janos were still new enough to their rank that it hadn't worn off on them. From somewhere in the town the sound of a wagon being pulled quickly home could be heard, but didn't sound right. Janos stopped them to listen and smiled a moment then the smile quickly turned to worry. Athwyn had learned to defer to him on things like this, he could always track things better than her, she had wondered for a while why he hadn't gone to the Green Ajah, but was glad that they had both gained admittance to the Indigo. "Janos, lets just get back to the..." He held up a hand to keep her quiet then turned his head to the right and left before hurrying them down the road. "No good can come tonight...Its making me uneasy, wagons are not usually out this late Athwyn...I learned that one a long time ago, before coming here." They quickened their pace to nearly a run, but the sound seemed to get closer and closer, she could now hear shouting and hollering, a man trying to gain control of the cart. "Janos, it's a runaway cart!" Panic filled Athwyn's voice as she saw it come barreling for them. Janos pushed Athwyn out of the way and she reached for the One Power, drawing quickly on saidar to weave a thick strand of air to capture and bind the cart and single frightened horse. She breathed deeply, trying to catch her breath and control her emotions. Athwyn looked around to see the cart owner bowing and kowtowing to her thanking her and apologizing for the disturbance. She did the proper thing and accepted his apologies and thanks then went looking for Janos. "The way back will come but once..." She looked around, "Where had that come from?" Then she saw him, laying on the ground unconscious. "JANOS!" Athwyn walked over towards him, her fingers trailed over him and she looked around for help. She saw an archway appear from out of nowhere, "No...I have to help him..." She looked at Janos then at the archway, tears poured down here face like a flooded stream that had burst. She rose as Janos's eyes fluttered open, "Athwyn...help me.." She backed up, shaking her head then turned running for the archway, Janos's screams for her sounding to her like a knife in her heart as she passed through it.
